It has successfully 3D printed an entire two-storey house for the first time in history. The Belgian company used Europe’s largest 3D printer to get the job done.
The 90-square-meter structure is made of concrete and was printed in one piece, reports In The Know. The giant machine vertically prints layer by layer until the tall building is complete. The printer is then able to be moved to the next construction site.
“What makes this house so unique is that we printed the house in one piece with a fixed 3D concrete printer,” project manager Emiel Ascione said.
“The homes that have already been printed worldwide have only one floor and are often in parts, factory printed and assembled on site. We have printed the entire building envelope as a whole on the site.”
The house is three times stronger than a standard homemade with quick building blocks. The concrete mix required very little wire-mesh as reinforcement like other projects do because it had fibres pre-blended into the material.
Although the prototype took three weeks to complete, the company believes a similar house can be printed in just two days. The team boasted further that the construction saved about 60 percent of its cost on materials, time and money.
This method of construction presents major opportunities to speed up the delivery of houses in Mzansi, while at the same time being more environmentally friendly.